Doughy Crop

[Jess23]

I have a hen who is about a year old. Her crop is not wanting to empty as it should. It feels kind of doughy and I can also feel food stuck in it. I don't think it's sour. She is still pooping normally. I've been feeding her soft mushy foods to keep her from getting malnourished. They seem to be digesting okay but I can't get rid of that doughy mass. I've tried withholding food and giving her vegetable oil as well as a lot of water. She only eats after giving her some water to loosen the mass. She is also not drinking water on her own. I've been giving her water myself throughout the day to keep her hydrated. It's been several days and nothing's helping. Is there anything else I can try? I've seen a recipe for breaking apart doughy crops but it uses baking soda and that concerns me a little since birds can't burp.

 

[coach723]

I have used the recipe you refer to for doughy crops, it hasn't been an issue. Often times a doughy crop is because digestion has slowed due to a problem farther down the digestive tract. What do her droppings look like? Do you know when she last laid? If you use the mix, you need to give it all to her, 1/2ml at a time, doing crop massage during it, to try to loosen up the crop. And do it 3 times a day. I would also do the same thing with plain water several times a day, doing crop massage again. Has she ever been wormed? Sometimes carrying a load of worms will slow things down and cause this, as well as various reproductive problems. Dehydration can also be an issue. I would make sure she's well hydrated before trying to get her to eat. That she isn't wanting to drink is concerning.
A couple of good articles on crop issues with lots of info:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Jess23]

She has not been dewormed. Do you know if it would be safe to give her worm medicine in her current state? If so, I've read that it's okay to give chickens any of the safeguard brand dewormer because I have to order chicken dewormer online. That's going to take a while to get here and I already have goat safeguard dewormer. She's still able to pass soft foods and her poops look normal other than being slightly watery from the amount of fluids she's been getting. She has also never laid an egg.

 

[coach723]

In my flock, I will often worm them when I have a slow crop. I have a history of roundworm, I worm regularly, but still sometimes someone will have an issue. I've never killed a bird by worming it personally. I've had birds take up to a week to start digesting normally when it's been worms. If you use Safeguard or Valbazen, they work slowly, so much less risk of a big die-off of worms overloading a sick bird. It's very hard to know, without a fecal, if that might be the issue, but that's what I do in my flock. It's so common in my flock that I don't get fecals done anymore. If it's a reproductive problem, then it won't help, but I would think it would be very low risk. Runny droppings could be from getting lots of fluids. If you decide to worm, since you don't know what it might be, then dosing for Safeguard would be 5 days in a row (.23ml per pound of bird weight), dosing for Valbazen would be .2 ml per 2.2 lbs of bird weight, dose once and then repeat in 10 days. I usually use Valbazen when a bird is sick as the amount you have to get in them is less, but either is effective. Safeguard is usually available locally, you can use the liquid goat wormer or the horse paste. Valbazen (labeled for cattle) you usually have to mail order.

 

[Jess23]

I have safeguard liquid goat dewormer.

 

[Faithful flock]

This sounds like sour crop
This is a very good article and is what I used to treat my hens!
https://oakabode.com/

 

[Jess23]

Another thing I thought of is she may not be getting enough grit. I keep her inside as a pet. I give her grit but she may not be eating enough of it. I'm going to keep giving her oil and water to keep the mass from getting hard and sprinkle some grit directly on top of her food.

 

[Jess23]

If anyone has any recipes for treating doughy crops please leave me a link. Also such would be better to use to soften the mass vegetable oil or coconut oil?

 

[Faithful flock]

If anyone has any recipes for treating doughy crops please leave me a link. Also such would be better to use to soften the mass vegetable oil or coconut oil?

The link I gave you above is to treat doughy crop

 

[Jess23]

I think it might be worms. Would Apple cider vinegar help or make her current issue worse?